The objectives of the Center are to provide service and to conduct and promote clinical and basic research by (a) educating the population about the disease, and providing information and counseling to those who carry the abnormal gene; (b) educating medical, allied health service personnel, and other professionals in the study and care of patients with sickle cell anemia; (c) providing the opportunity for quality testing to anyone who desires such a service; (d) conducting clinical research trough an analysis of the factors determining the severity of sickle cell anemia in adults; a study of sickle cell anemia and other hemoglobinopathies in young children; and a cardiac evaluation of chilren with sickle cell anemia; (e) conducting basic research through studies of hemoglobin aggregation by X-ray diffraction and circular dichroism; immunological identification and characterization of hemoglobin variants; investigations of factors influencing the expression of the Hb beta S gene through analyses of hemoglobin components; and studies of phospholipases as probes of the sickle cell membrane.